Children at the Thirteenth Avenue School take recess on the school playground which until recently was used as a faculty parking lot.
Robert Sciarrino

NEWARK — Teachers who used the playground at Newark’s Lafayette Street School like it was their own private parking lot will have to park somewhere else now.

After a year and a half of meetings, letters and petitions, parents of the students finally got their way. East Ward Councilman Augusto Amador spearheaded the passage of an ordinance making it official: The school parking lot is now a place for students to play without having to dodge between obstacle courses of parked cars.

Under the city law passed unanimously this month, teachers can get a $25 city-issued permit to park on two streets near the school. If they snub that option, Amador said, he is working with a nearby parking garage to offer discounts.

"The only pushback will be from teachers who feel they are inconvenienced," Amador said.

I first wrote about this problem in June, and what has been clear all along is that the playground should have been off-limits to anyone but the kids.

Yes, there is congestion in the Ironbound, making parking a challenge, but cars in this area were not being vandalized and stolen as they have been in other parts of the city.

The principal at Lafayette Street School didn’t want teachers to be late looking for a parking space, so she let them park on the playground. It was an unacceptable reason for parents, who — rightly so — continued to be stubborn in their efforts to return playgrounds to children citywide.

And that’s the beauty of the ordinance. Even though the law only names Lafayette Street School, Amador said it can also be applied to other city schools. He said parents would have to petition the school district and cite the ordinance as a way to address their concerns.

"Precedent is being made here," said Matthew Frankel, a spokesman for the school district. "This solution could be used in the future if need be."

Lyndon Brown, president of Thirteenth Avenue School PTA, said he plans to discuss the ordinance with parents at his school, where teachers were parking in the children’s play area, even though they have a designated spot at the rear of the playground that is behind a fence.

Faculty and staff cars at the Camden Street Middle School park under solar energy panels in the area that used to be the playground.
Robert Sciarrino

Brown acknowledged that the use of the playground for parking started five years ago when cars were stolen and vandalized. But Brown, who wears another hat as president of the Essex County PTA, said kids still should come first in all schools.

"There are many schools that are not allowing kids to go out for recess because they are utilizing the playgrounds for a parking lot," he said. "We want to make sure our kids get exercise because after they leave school many of them don’t have recreational opportunities and the only time they get to interact with their peers is at recess."

Parking lot playgrounds are prevalent throughout the district. School officials have said there’s just not enough on-street parking. At Camden Middle School in Newark, cars pull into parking spaces with painted lines. They sit underneath rows of solar panels, making the former playground look like a carport.

Alfred Ray, a parent at Lincoln Elementary School, said he didn’t know why the cars were parked on the lot at his daughter’s school. He just figured it was school property and that’s the way things were handled. With the ordinance, he says maybe it’s an issue for parents to consider addressing.

At Lafayette Street School, parents are relieved, but they move cautiously, knowing their work is just starting.

"We’ve gotten this far, but we still have a long way to go," said Maria DaSilva-Pineda.

They’ve talked with an architect and the Trust For Public Land, a nonprofit land conservation group that has built playgrounds in the district. The organization, which has found open spaces lacking in Newark, understands parking is an issue at schools but thinks the ordinance is a good idea.

"The playground should be prioritized for children," said program coordinator Scott Dvorak. "But if you can’t, the kids need a play space at the minimum. If it’s not a full-blown playground, you absolutely need a play space that kids can call their own."